Chris Moneymaker Among Raft of Ambassadors to Bid Farewell to PokerStars Chris Moneymaker Among Raft of Ambassadors to Bid Farewell to PokerStars
Neil Stoddart - PokerStars, All Rights Reserved
Key Takeaways
  • Prior to this round of cuts, the operator had said goodbye to well over a dozen others over the last two years.
  • PokerStars has been working on a major new product feature, Tips from the Moneymaker, so that exit now is surprising.
  • Sow joined the PokerStars team less than two years ago following a string of successes on the European live poker circuit.
  • The OP Poker team had less to help promote with PokerStars shifting away from new game formats.
  • Poker players remaining on the list including Andre Akkari, PSPC winner Ramon Colillas and Chess master Jen Shahade.
  • Representing the site on Twitch are Ben Spragg, Fintan Hand, Lex Veldhuis and Arlie Shaban.

In yet another round of end-of-contract exits, half a dozen ambassadors announced the end of their partnership with PokerStars on the last day of 2020.

The latest wave of poker players to say goodbye to the online poker giant includes French live player Kalidou Sow, Russian online pro Mikhail “innerpsy” Shalamov and a trio of streamers under the name OP Poker.

However, by far the most notable is WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, who has been an ambassador for the company ever since his historic and transformative win more than 17 years ago.

It is certainly no surprise that the company has ended contracts at this time of year: This is the fourth January in a row when a batch of exits has been announced. Prior to this round of cuts, the operator had said goodbye to over a dozen ambassadors since 2019. Indeed, PRO predicted a year ago that Moneymaker’s contract, along with others, may not be extended into 2021.

However, the timing here is curious because, as PRO understands, PokerStars had been working on a major new product feature, Tips from the Moneymaker, where the eponymous ambassador offers tips to players based on identifying leaks in their play.